Venice golden in relay, third overall at states

STUART - Madison Jean and Eric Erlenmeyer had regrets leaving last year's state swimming meet, Erlenmeyer because he didn't take the sport serious enough and Jean because she didn't push herself down the stretch in the finals of her 100 butterfly race, a race she was seeded second in but finished seventh.

So the two Lakewood Ranch swimmers put hard work in over the summer and during the season, their dedication paying off in Friday's Class 3A state meet at Sailfish Splashpark Aquatic Center.

Lakewood Ranch's Madison Jean and Charlotte's Hannah James took silver and bronze in the 100 butterfly at the Class 3A state swim meet. Staff photo/Solange Reyner

Erlenmeyer took silver in the 100 backstroke, finishing in 52.39 seconds, and Jean beat out good friend and former club teammate Hannah James of Charlotte in the 100 butterfly, capturing silver in 55.47 seconds. She also placed fourth in the 100 backstroke in 58.25.

James was a double medalist: the senior got a silver in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:49.46, an automatic All-American qualifying time, and a bronze in the fly (55.58).

Erlenmeyer also finished sixth in the 50 freestyle in 21.42 seconds and led off the 400 free relay team that finished fourth (3:12.77) and the 200 medley relay team that finished sixth (1:39.77), his performances fueling Lakewood Ranch's fourth place finish in the team standings, a team best.

The Venice boys' 200 free relay team that won gold at the 3A state meet Friday: John Pelton, Matt Pelton, Peyton Leeson and Santiago Ruvira. Staff photo/Solange Reyner

The Mustangs came in six points behind Venice, which had an outstanding meet led by Peyton Leeson. The 6-foot-6 senior snagged bronze in the 200 individual medley (1:53.84) and was the anchor on the 200 free relay team that upset Belen Jesuit in the finals to win gold in a race they finished in 1:27.35. Santiago Ruvira, Matt Pelton and John Pelton were also on that team.

He also anchored the 400 free relay team that broke a school record and won silver behind Belen Jesuit by two hundredths of a second, 3:09.57.

"We've dropped over 12 seconds in that race since I was a freshman," said junior David Lattimer, who also finished sixth in the 100 backstroke in 54.01 seconds and 15th in the 100 freestyle in 49 seconds.

"We were close in the end, I almost caught the guy but he just slipped away. ... I'm going to have some recruiting to do for next season."

The Lakewood Ranch swim team after the Class 3a state meet Friday. Staff photo/Solange Reyner

John Pelton, another senior on that 400 free relay team, was sixth in the 200 freestyle (1:43.25), one spot behind Lakewood Ranch's Luke Hanner (1:41.96) and one spot in front of Charlotte's Hans Schroeder (1:43.48). Pelton was also ninth in the 500 free in 4:38.09, with his brother Matt finishing 16th in that event in 4:44.56. Matt Pelton was also eighth in the 200 IM (1:58.17) and Schroeder sixth in the 100 free in 47.81. In the 100 butterfly, Hanner was fifth in 51.17 and Venice's Ruvira ninth in 53.14.

Venice brought seven swimmers to states, a nice accomplishment considering how many team members the Indians have: nine.

"This is our best year by far," coach Brian Burgan said. "These boys have gotten physically stronger and have another year of experience under their belts."

On the girls' side for Venice, Grace Patrice finished seventh in the 500 free (5:01.91), making up for a disqualification in the 200 IM.

"It was a little upsetting but it fired me up for my next swim," said Patrice, a freshman.

Sarasota's Madison Tyle, another freshman, finished 15th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.05, while her teammate, senior Roman Zaremba, came in ninth in the 100 backstroke (54.50). Tyle had only been mainly pulling in practice because of an inflamed hip, fully swimming three days ago.

"It definitely got my arms a lot stronger," said Tyle. Zaremba, who wants to swim in college, almost missed his event because he was talking to a friend.

"But I didn't have time to get nervous so maybe it was a good thing," said Zaremba, who locked up the top spot in the consolations in an upset.

"At least I finished my high school career with a pretty big bang," he said.

In the 100 breaststroke, Charlotte's Neelin Vakil came in ninth in 1:01.26 while Lakewood Ranch's Chang So finished 13th in 1:01.74. In the 100 free consolation finals, Lakewood Ranch's Sydney Panzarino and Courtney Chapin finished 11th and 16th, respectively. The two also finished 11th and 14th in the 100 backstroke. For the Tarpons, Daniel Markgraf finished 14th in the 2oo free in 1:46.34 and Eric Stover seventh in 1-meter diving.

"It was a good finish considering I bombed the first four dives," Stover said.

Charlotte's boys' team finished sixth overall in the team standings, a big feat after no swimmers qualified for the state meet last year.

"We were shooting for a top five but these guys did very well," Charlotte coach Jeff Cain said. "This experience is all new to them."